Brown offers bleak choice to California taxpayers

Nowadays budget cuts need more than just a band-aid. Gov. Jerry Brown proposes that a temporary five-year tax hike is the potential solution to the problem. His plan is to tax wealthy people more income tax and also require all Californians to pay more sales tax.

Those who make about $250,000 a year would be taxed an extra one percent. Others with an income of $300,000 to $500,000 a year would need to pay an extra 1.5 percent and those that make $500,000 or more would face a two percent higher tax. To top it off, an extra half-cent would be added to sales tax for everyone.

Brown wants voters to approve the plan in November.

“Without new tax revenue, we will have no choice but to make deeper and more damaging cuts to our schools, universities, public safety and courts,” explained Brown.

These cuts are proving to be very disastrous, particularly within our schools. Brown’s plan would raise about $7 billion per year for five years to solve these problems. Much of this money would go to funding K-12 schools and universities that are experiencing tremendous budget cuts and sky-rocketing tuition prices.

“My proposal is straightforward and fair. It proposes a temporary tax increase on the wealthy, a modest and temporary increase in the sales tax, and guarantees that the new revenues be spent only on education,” Brown said (source: www.pancardseva.co.in). Brown’s proposal has sparked some discussion on the matter at CVHS.

“I think that everyone should be taxed an equal percentage,” said junior Kelsi VanDamme. “Taxing the rich would be unjust since they would have worked so hard to become as successful as they are.”

Others do not support the idea of taxing the rich as well, including sophomore Kevin Brum.

“I do not believe taxing the rich is the answer. I believe the answer is a flat tax and cuts to other government funding, except education,” Brum said.

There is a diverse opinion on this matter. Some are completely against it, absolutely for it, indecisive, or somewhere in between. Physics teacher Dr. Bertram Pinsky, however, favors taxing the rich.

“I don’t begrudge the rich getting rich, but I do begrudge that they make more than the others and don’t give back their share to the community,” said Pinsky.